Book Review: Portion Size Me: A Kid-Drive Plan to a Healthier Family

Title: Portion Size Me: A Kid-Drive Plan to a Healthier Family
Author: Marshall Reid and Alexandra Reid
ISBN-13: 978-1-4022-6582-2
160 Pages, Paperback and also available in eBook PDF
Suggested Retail: $16.99 US
Buy: Amazon, Sourcebooks

Summary:

Project “Portion Size Me” was inspired by ten-year-old Marshall, who was tired of being picked on, unhappy with his appearance and feeling down on himself. Weary of trying to follow strict diets, Marshall, with the help of his mom Alexandra Reid, decided to pay close attention to how they ate for an entire month by looking at portions, reading labels and learning about ingredients. And in the process, this project became a lifestyle for their entire family.

Through an assortment of tips and personal anecdotes, Portion Size Me brings children and their families together to make conscious decisions about what they put into their bodies. Alex and Marshall developed a fun-filled project with six achievable goals to help create positive, long-lasting, healthy behaviors, including:

· Eat as many real foods as possible

· Read ingredients

· Pause before you eat

· Get moving

· Help out in the kitchen

· Watch portion sizes

With easy-to-follow, adaptable recipes and kid-friendly tips, your child will be eager to take charge in the kitchen, and in life as well.

Review:

Portion Size Me has an interesting take on being a personal story/cookbook with pages included to create your own personal journal plus some fun facts tied in with it all. Marshall and his mom do a great job writing this book. This was a personal journey for their family and they made it a point to share publicly in order to help others make a gradual change to a healthier lifestyle.

This book covers a month, 31 days, reflecting personal thoughts and recipes to consider for healthy eating. I was surprised by how many of the recipes I had not heard of before or their healthy takes on some common dishes, like guacamole and stuffed peppers. There is also a section on “Ten Days of Breakfasts”, “Ten Days of Lunches”, and “Ten Days of Affordable Dinners” included.

I think this a great book to get a family on the right track with reading nutritional labels, ideas for cooking together, eating more unprocessed foods that are not time consuming to make, and just trying to become more active as part of a healthier lifestyle. I also think Portion Size Me would be a great resource for any child that is concerned about a weight issue. This story is written by Marshall with the help of his mom as a peer in a positive fashion.

About the Authors:

Alexandra Reid, former advertising executive at Young & Rubicam, is the mother of Marshall and his sister Jordan. The family, along with their dad, Dan, lives in North Carolina. Marshall Reid, now a sixth-grader, excels in his communication skills. His hobbies include cooking, Tae Kwon Do, playing football, canoeing, and most importantly, playing games on his Playstation.

To see Marshall on video, check out http://www.portionsize.me. You can also find some of the recipes from Portion Size Me on this website. To follow Marshall on YouTube go to http://www.youtube.com/user/PortionSizeMe and on Facebook.

Disclosure: I have received a copy of this book for my review. The thoughts and feelings expressed are my own. No other compensation was received to produce this review.

About Karen